"You do not word your questions justly. I did not expect to be interrupted by the return of the nurse. To be interrupted, one must be occupied with some special work. I was not specially engaged."
"You were supposed to be specially engaged watching your patient, in place of the nurse, with whose services you had dispensed. Had you done your full duty, that is, had you done what the nurse would have done, kept your patient under surveillance, she would not have had a chance to take the morphine, would she?"
"It may be that I was grievously at fault, not to observe her more closely. But I thought that she was asleep. An error is not a crime."
"There are errors that are criminal. Your jury will judge in this case. Now, if you please, answer my question without further evasion. Did not the nurse return half an hour sooner than you expected her?"
"She returned half an hour earlier than the time up to which I had given her permission to be away."
"Exactly. Now, had she remained the full time, she would not have known anything about this morphine incident?"
"Of course not."
"In which case, you would have kept it a secret."
"Most probably."
"But, as she did see you handling the syringe, you knew that she would be in the position to testify to the fact that you yourself administered the morphine?"